Summer vacation next year will be about a week longer for students in the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. if a proposed three-year calendar is approved.
Several changes are being considered by the BCSC school board based on a recommendation from a subcommittee asked to evaluate results of an online survey to create the next calendar.
The district received more than 4,800 responses to the survey, said Teresa Heiny, assistant superintendent for human resources.
“One of the comments we heard was to make the summer as long as possible,” Heiny said.
The recommendation addresses that by changing the first student day of school next fall to Aug. 8, compared to Aug. 2 this year. Both are Wednesdays.
A couple of those days will come from shortening the full-week Thanksgiving break to three days starting in fall 2018.
Based on the panel’s recommendation, the final day of classes in 2018-19 will be May 30, the same as this school year, Heiny said.
“It’s just how the calendar falls,” she said.
Fifty-two percent of respondents indicated they would be in favor of reducing the number of days for Thanksgiving break to begin school later in August, according to the survey results. Also, 79 percent said they were in favor of keeping Good Friday as a non-school day.
The subcommittee recommended switching the guaranteed week of spring break to the second of two consecutive weeks. That would mean any snow make-up days would come off the first week, Heiny said.
The subcommittee which made the recommendation consists of about 25 people representing businesses, parochial schools, athletics departments and parents, formed by the district’s Business Advisory Council.
Parochial schools in Columbus typically follow the same schedule as the Columbus-based public school system.
The calendar recommendations were in line with the overall survey responses, said Tyler Davis, a member of the panel who serves as assistant athletics director at Columbus East High School.
“We wanted to do what was best for the kids in the framework of what the community was requesting,” Davis said after the meeting.
“I think BCSC did a good job of balancing the needs of the community,” said Mike Tinsley, another subcommittee member.
Heiny said the recommendation from the subcommittee can be modified by school board members if they choose to do so. The board will consider adopting the calendar during its Oct. 23 meeting at Mt. Healthy Elementary School, 12150 S. State Road 58.
However, board member Jill Shedd said she didn’t anticipate any changes being brought forward based on feedback from her colleagues.
“If that’s the information we received from the community, I’m glad we were able to accommodate that,” she said.
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School board members will vote on the three-year calendar during its 6:30 p.m. Oct. 23 meeting at Mt. Healthy Elementary School, 12150 S. State Road 58.
During the next three school years, a proposed calendar calls for these beginning and end dates for instruction.
- 2018-19: First student day, Aug. 8; last student day, May 30
- 2019-20: First student day, Aug. 7; last student day, May 28
- 2020-21: First student day, Aug. 6; last student day, May 26
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